


In Starbucks (with you)

by Fondeyeslester



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Dates, Established Relationship, Fluff, Introspection, M/M, Nostalgia, Phandom Reverse Bang 2019, Romance, interactive itroverts, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:10:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19840471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fondeyeslester/pseuds/Fondeyeslester
Summary: Things are just beginnig for them, but they’re also coming to an end. An afternoon in Manchester, a coffe shop sofa, and some memories.





	In Starbucks (with you)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr @fondeyeslester if you want to follow me there

It feels surprisingly foreign, like a dusty photograph, or the familiar picture of a place you’ve seen a million times but have not visited. Dan looks at the Starbucks, their Starbucks, and he is shocked to find it almost exactly the same. He didn’t want it to change, but perhaps it would have been more appropriate if it had, after all, they definitely changed. It remains stuck though, perfectly so. The passing, fading memory of two kids stumbling over their words while drinking caramel macchiatos is very vivid as they walk into the Starbucks.  
Phil’s holding the camera, and even if it’s presence creates a distance from the most sacred moments they shared in that place, it feels strangely comforting to have a sort of separation from what would have otherwise been an extremely emotional trip down a lane he doesn’t want to explore. The whole day has been hectic, and Dan is all kinds of exhausted when they sit on the old sofa without saying a word.  
The silence remains until their names are called. Dan stands to get their drinks without as much as looking up from his phone. Phil stays at the table, saving it but also carefully avoiding unnecessary contact with strangers. For all of the growth he has had over the last few years, casual social interaction is still not his thing. It’s gotten easier though, as most things have. The irony doesn’t escape him that despite life becoming more complicated and challenging, it is simpler than ever before. Things were so complicated back then, showing love was painful and scary, and too many wounds were still open all those years ago when they filmed the original day in the life, or when they sat on this very same sofa and held hands for the very first time. 

Dan comes back with the drinks and drops into his seat.  
“Just got an email from the agency about the set,” he says,  
“Don’t,”  
“Lauren also wrote about the merch…”  
“Yeah, I saw. Can we not talk about that, though? It’s our getaway weekend. We’re meant to be reliving the past”  
“Alright then, Lester. Want to relieve our teenage nights?”  
“Shut up,” he’s not blushing, of course not. It’s been nine years, he. doesn’t blush. anymore.  
Dan rolls his eyes, “You’re embarrassed, amazingphil?”  
“Fuck off,” and it’s said a bit too loud.  
They burst into laughter, wholehearted loud laughs that resonate within the coffee shop, and they're so distant from the quiet giggles they once shared there.  
Their amusement dies down eventually, and they go back to the comfortable silence that comes with the pre-tour tiredness. As he sips on his coffee, Phil thinks that those nights are not something he wants to relive. Not only is he a bit old for them now, as incredible as those earlier days were, he wouldn’t trade anything for the nights they now share.  
“It could’ve been taken,” Phil suddenly says,  
“Sorry?”  
“Or gone. The couch might’ve been gone. The wheel is,”  
“Yeah, we were rather lucky.”  
“Yeah...lucky.”

He takes another sip. He still takes his coffee excessively sweet, but as of late, caramel macchiatos have become a bit too much, so he only indulges once in a while. Dan might tease him about his ageing, but for once, Phil thinks that ageing might be a good thing. Most things are better now. He stares out the window, and at the stuck-in-time, ageless coffee shop, and at Dan who is scrolling down on his phone, in his own little world. Dan had said that earlier down at the fountain by their old flat, he’d said all those years ago, as well. His little world. He looks back at Dan.  
“It’s weird, though. Right?” Phil says.  
“What? Being back here? Definitely. The flat is what did it for me though,”  
“Yeah, but I meant the sofa,” Dan furrows his forehead.  
“What? That it wasn’t taken?”  
“Yeah? That it was here? I don’t know, it’s stupid. We haven’t come here in so long, I guess I expected it to be different”  
“It’s been a weird day,”  
“Weirder days are about to come,”  
“I’m exhausted just thinking about it,” Dan sighs.  
The sun starts to go down, turning the sky all shades of purple. Their cups sit empty on the table, and they’ve traded their contemplations of the past for quiet plans for the tour. They laugh at some of their most ridiculous ideas. There's a lot that needs to be done, and the stress created by piles of work looms over them, but the purple light of the sunset is coming through the old Starbucks window, Phil is failing to come up with something that rhymes with Cumberbatch, which results in fond insults and loud laughs from Dan, and there’s barely anyone left to see as their fingers brush on top of the table.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for the phandom reverse bang and even if it’s short and simple, I’m quite happy with it. Thank you so much to dangoqh, who is the amazing artist that did a beautiful piece and gave me a really nice prompt to work with, you can check out the art on tumblr. Huge thanks to my beta cellophan who helped me a lot, this fic wouldn’t the same without you.


End file.
